Molasse Basin - Geographic Location

Geographic Location

The Molasse basin stretches over a length of 1000 kilometers along the long axis of the Alps, in France, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The western end is at Lake Geneva, where the basins outcrop is just 20 km wide. Further to the northeast the basin becomes wider. It forms the subsurface of the Swiss Mittelland and reaches its largest width (circa 130 km) in the Bavarian foreland of the Alps. From Amstetten to Sankt Pölten the basin forms a narrow band, just 10 km in width. After that it widens again to the east. North of the Danube River it connects with the Vienna basin, and is thus connected with the Pannonian Basin further east.

The region where the molasse crops out is divided into two. The Subalpine Molasse zone along the Alps and the Foreland Molasse zone further into the foreland. In the Foreland Molasse zone the molasse sediments are relatively undisturbed, in the Subalpine Molasse zone the beds are often tilted, folded and thrust over each other.